Strī-dharma-paddhati is an 18th-century Sanskrit-language text written by the court pandit Tryambaka-yajvan in the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom of present-day Tamil Nadu, India. It outlines the duties of women from an orthodox Hindu point of view, based on several shruti, smriti, and puranic texts. A strongly patriarchal text, it assigns a subservient role to women, and suggests that they can achieve salvation only through complete devotion to their husbands. Like the dharma-shastra texts it quotes, the norms presented in the text are a mixture of contemporary social reality and what the author considers to be the ideal behavior.
Authorship and date Tryambaka-yajvan, the writer of Strī-dharma-paddhati ("Guide to the Religious Status and Duties of Women"), was an orthodox pandit from Thanjavur. He was a pupil of Yajnesha (IAST: Yajñeśa), and a court pandit and minister of the Thanjavur Maratha king Serfoji I. The text does not mention the exact date of its composition, but quotes Dharmākūta (1719), another work by Tryambakayajvan. The author died in 1750, so Strī-dharma-paddhati must have been composed sometime between 1719 and 1750 CE.
Contents
Introduction At the beginning of the text, Tryambaka invokes Ganadhipati, Sarasvati, and his teachers. The text focuses on married women, and Tryambaka declares that the primary religious duty of women is to obediently serve their husbands. He states that he has compiled sacred laws related to women from various texts including the law books (dhrama-shastras) and the Puranas.
The daily duties of women Tryambaka divides the night (and presumably the day) into six periods, and specifies various activities that the women should engage during each period. In the morning, a woman is expected to rise before her husband (who, according to the six-fold division of night, is expected to rise at 4 am). In addition to several duties traditionally prescribed for men (such as personal hygiene), Tryambaka assigns various household tasks to women, such as food preparation, house cleaning, smearing the house with cow dung, tending to her children, tending to the cows, and massaging her husband. A woman is also expected to perform ritual worship of threshold (including sketching of auspicious designs), and assist her husband in performing ritual sacrifices. According to Tryambaka, a wife should worship only three deities: her husband, and the two sister goddesses - Shri (Lakshmi) and Jyestha (Alakshmi). When the husband eats, the wife is expected to serve him, and eat his leftovers. At night, she is expected to engage in sexual intercourse. Several of these duties, including a variety of sex positions, are illustrated in the book's palm-leaf manuscripts, now at the British Library. Tryambaka does not make any provisions for a woman to rest, and lists day-time sleep among the things that corrupt women (and therefore should be avoided). Women are not expected to visit friends or study. Tryambaka provides detailed instructions for several daily tasks. For example, he quotes Angiras' instructions on urinating and defecating:
He gives several modifying rules for tasks common to men and women. For example, he quotes Shankha for instructions on dressing:
He also provides different rules for menstruating women and widows. For example, these women (and women whose husbands are away) should avoid ornaments, flowers and other things that make them attractive. The text states a woman should not answer back if her husband scolds her, or show anger and resentment if her husband beats her. The only exception is love-making, during which it is acceptable for a woman to strike her husband, scratch him, show anger towards him, or use harsh words as an expression of her passion.
The inherent nature of women Like several other orthodox authorities, Tryambaka portrays women as inherently sinful, born as female because of sins in their previous births. He quotes Manu-smrti, Mahabharata and Ramayana to assert that women are naturally inclined to fickle-mindedness, habitual lying, unfaithfulness, and other bad qualities. Like these authorities, he also talks about the virtuous behaviour of women, without explaining the implicit contradiction. Tryambaka suggests that women have not fallen too low, and therefore, capable of receiving instructions specified in his book. He quotes Manu and other authorities to state that women have some inherently good qualities such as purity and good fortune.
This concept of menstrual purity seems to be symbolic, since Tryambaka insists that a woman who behaves badly cannot escape penalties through ritual atonement (prayashchitta). Nevertheless, he states that women are blessed to have "the easiest path to heaven" - that of worshipping their husbands. Lastly, he argues that his instructions are useful for women because good conduct can destroy the inauspicious marks of one's nature or circumstances. Tryambaka uses these arguments to prove the usefulness of his text, and to persuade women to conform to the good behavior as specified by him.
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